It is the season of IPL, and marketers are now making full use of fan frenzy. This is the time when brands and retailers get a perfect opportunity to send relevant and personalized messages to the supporter based on the loyalty of fans towards their team and based on their interests in a specific team—CSK team jersey and CSK merchandise for the ardent CSK fans or tickets to all upcoming matches of RCB for die-hard Kohli fans. If a brand comes across a Mumbai Indians follower who loves sushi, the brand can go after that specific follower by offering that follower some discount at a Japanese restaurant while the brand is live telecasting an MI game.
Consider another scenario wherein summer is approaching, and customers are searching for vacation places. In case a browsing history of a customer shows that the customer might be interested in ‘beach’, then the marketers—travel agencies and tourism organizations, respectively—can attract that customer in terms of beachside accommodations and homestays. Thus, with the help of data, marketers can keep their audience engaged and retain it by analyzing customer needs and intentions. But this situation again requires an overall understanding of customer preference and real-time interaction.
That’s where ZEPIC-the SaaS-based customer experience startup comes into play. ZEPIC offers one unified data framework that will enable brands to personalize communications with each individual customer. Co-founded in January last year by Naveen Venkat, Sunil Kumar Somarajan Pillai, Bharathi Kannan Ravikumar, and Sreelesh Pillai, ZEPIC aims at transforming how go-to-market teams connect with their customers. Based in Delaware but with its product and engineering team in Chennai, this startup helps businesses deliver a hyper-personalized experience-from the very moment of first discovery to after the sale.
Customers are constantly communicating: in their shopping and purchasing behavior, in all their activities with the brands. This can be utilized to develop micro-segments and execute highly context-specific, relevance-driven marketing strategies. In one of its initial pilots, ZEPIC provided a national sports federation with a centralized platform that consolidated information regarding members’ roles and activities both online and offline. It has tracked the profile of every member and his or her journey within the association over time. The marketing teams in the association can thus send personalized messages via email, WhatsApp, and SMS based on every member’s preferred communication method and specific needs.